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Fiji safe from cyclones this season - but what about next?

Small island states in the South Pacific, like Fiji, have been battered by cyclones. As these weather events become more extreme due to climate change, how do remote island communities recover after the storm has passed?

Even more than a year after the destruction of Cyclone Winston, the largest cyclone ever to hit land in the Southern Hemisphere, New Zealander turned Fiji local Nigel Skeggs still vividly remembers what it was like being stuck in the eye of the storm.

"It's one of those things that's very difficult to describe," he told DW.

Originally from New Zealand, Skeggs now makes Fiji his home

"Try driving down the highway at 230 kilometers an hour [143 miles per hour] and stick your head out the window - that's the wind speeds we were getting.

"The noise was just out of control, the coconut trees were bending over, everything was shaking, even the strongest buildings. Once the wind started, you couldn't go outside, you couldn't move. You've really got to be well prepared and in a good position when the storm approaches and hits you."

As a cyclone disaster response director, and CEO of the Port Denarau Marina, Skeggs has witnessed his fair share of cyclones, including the devastating Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu in 2015, and Cyclone Winston in Fiji last year.

'14 hours of absolute panic'

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Huge cyclone leaves trail of destruction

"We were lucky enough to have missed the worst of Cyclone Winston, being in a secure and safe building, but for the people out there [in remote villages and islands], I can't even imagine what they went through," said Skeggs.

"It was 14 hours of absolute panic. I heard stories where whole villages were holding onto the base of trees, so as not to be blown off the island."

Cyclones and other extreme weather events have always been part of island life in the South Pacific. But the increasing frequency and unpredictability of these storms troubles Skeggs.

"They've always been here, but it certainly seems that in the last few years we've been getting stronger and more frequent cyclones, and this is all part of the climate issues," he said.

"When tourists come through the South Pacific on their own yachts or superyachts, many of them volunteer their time with us to take the doctors from island to island, berthing them on board and looking after them, whilst the doctors provide medical services on the islands," he said.

Despite aid assistance from Australia, New Zealand, France and the United States to build an efficient health care system, according to Sea Mercy, Fiji's remote island communities are still missing out on basic services.

"It's not from a lack of will from nations in the South Pacific, but it's just that these island communities are so spread out, and resources are very low, so governments tend to concentrate their services in the main towns and cities. People out in the periphery get left behind," Skeggs explained.

"Over the past six years, we've helped around 25,000 patients, and now we're looking at non-communicable disease testing for illnesses like Type 2 diabetes and rheumatic heart disease. Left untreated or undiagnosed, these diseases have huge long-term health implications. It's something that we in the first world don't really think about, but here in Fiji, we have a lot of problems like these."

Remote Fijian villages were devastated by the 2016 cyclone

Empowering local communities

Outside of cyclone season, Skeggs and his crew are also developing a plan to provide the outer islands with skills and knowledge in agriculture, so that locals can grow and sell their own produce - alongside building a mother ship vessel called Sea Bridge One, which will supply the South Pacific with a permanent floating health care clinic.

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"It's very important for us to upskill locals, so we're not just coming in and doing things for them; we're coming in to assist them to rebuild their own lives.

"Our Remote Island Soil Education program is an effort to holistically look at the lifestyles of people out in the outer islands, and to help them get back to their roots through farming and aquaponics. Having a mother ship vessel will help us grow our programs as well as provide a centralized base during natural disasters."

Yet, despite the ongoing and increasing threat of natural disasters, Skeggs' resolve to help these remote island communities remains steadfast.

"I've loved the Pacific since I was a young kid. It's such a beautiful place, with beautiful people. I want to do everything I can to help."

Small islands feel the wrath of climate change

Cyclone Pam destroys Vanuatu

Winds of up to 320 kilometers (200 miles) an hour ripped roofs off houses and downed trees in Port Vila in the island nation of Vanuatu. Category 5 Cyclone Pam hit the capital on Friday, March 13, 2015. Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale said the cyclones that the nation had experienced were directly linked to climate change. "We see the level of sea rise. [We see] change in weather patterns."

Small islands feel the wrath of climate change

'Development has been wiped out'

President Lonsdale dubbed Cyclone Pam "a monster" that had devastated the country. "It’s a setback for the government and for the people of Vanuatu. After all the development that has taken place, all this development has been wiped out." He said 90 percent of the buildings had been destroyed in the capital alone. So far, six people were confirmed dead and 30 injured from the cyclone.

Small islands feel the wrath of climate change

Cyclone hit multiple countries and islands

The cyclone devastated numerous countries across the South Pacific. "At least nine nations have experienced some level of devastation including Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Fiji, Tuvalu, and Papua New Guinea," a statement by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Small islands feel the wrath of climate change

Children at risk

The UN's Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that at least 60,000 children have been displaced or affected by the cyclone. According to UNICEF, hundreds of children in Tuvalu, Solomon Islands and Kiribati are also affected. "It felt like the world was coming to an end," said UNICEF's Alice Clements, one of the organization's staff members, who was in Port Vila when the storm hit.

Small islands feel the wrath of climate change

A wake-up call?

For years, small island nations such as Kiribati (pictured here) have been trying to combat climate change. Seychelles President James Michel said on Monday that Cyclone Pam was "a clear manifestation of climate change" and called on the international community to "wake up" to the impact of global warming.

Small islands feel the wrath of climate change

Local efforts to protect the land

The inhabitants of the most vulnerable islands have been trying to secure coastal areas to prevent the tides from washing away the soil. While these measures assist in the short term, more needs to be done to tackle the root cause of rising sea levels.

Small islands feel the wrath of climate change

'Natural disasters have worsened'

"Climate change has exacerbated the severity of natural disasters and [their] frequency, that's worsening the impacts on different communities," the president of island nation Kiribati, Anote Tong, said. Climate change and disasters are related, he added. Scientists, however, say it's impossible to attribute single weather events like Cyclone Pam to climate change.

Small islands feel the wrath of climate change

UN urges action against climate change

"We must especially help the poorest and most vulnerable people," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in the aftermath of the cyclone. Prevention of natural disasters is a global task, he added. "Climate change is intensifying the risks for hundreds of millions of people, particularly in small island developing states and coastal areas." A new climate treaty will be negotiated later this year.